


A Character Study in Post-It Notes

by cuphugaddict



Category: The Night Manager (TV), The Night Manager - Jean Le Carré
Genre: I'm Sorry, M/M, Not Happy, Sad, i don't even know what else to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 09:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7097827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuphugaddict/pseuds/cuphugaddict
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Angela is once again faced with Jonathan Pine - differently though.</p><p>Sad little story - you have been warned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Character Study in Post-It Notes

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Scenes, Scenarios, and Situations](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5841916) by [orphan_account](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account). 



 

 

With only one foot set in the hotel room, Angela Burr sighed deeply. What a bloody mess!

This wasn’t what she had in mind when she had signed Pine up for the whole Roper operation. In fact, she had done anything in her power that it did not end in that particular sort of way. But apparently, it hadn’t been enough.

 

_‘terrace’ … ‘deck chair’ … raised eyebrows’ … ‘calm voice’_

 

If Joel were here, he would tell her that there was no way of her knowing about Pine being responsible or capable of any of this. Still, she felt responsible.

Ushering two of her agents out of the room, she looked around the same and tried to somehow understand what had happened; tried to make sense of the scene in front of her own eyes.

 

_‘witty’ … ‘funny’ … ‘intelligent’ … ‘observant’_

 

Why had he done it? Everything had gone according to plan. Pine – or, O’Donnell as of today – had settled in well in the whole protection program, he had dutifully delivered every single one of the weekly reports – no reason to suspect that anything had been out of the ordinary.

 

_‘insufferable’ … ‘pursing of lips’ … ‘sunglasses’ … ‘loyal’_

 

Apparently he had tricked them all, every single one of them. But who would be surprised about it all, really? First, going undercover, denying who he really was and playing his part far too well and then an even longer period of the same with Roper and his entourage. Pine had perfected his always remarkable skills over this amount of time and now he had simply used them on Angela and her team.

 

_‘competitive’ … ‘sweet’ … ‘smell of oranges’ … ‘upright’_

 

If Angela was honest to herself, she would never had thought that Pine would do something like this. Certainly, he would be capable, but not that he would actually _do_ it. It was that exact moment that the image of him, sitting opposite of her in that restaurant in Switzerland, smiling appeared in front of her. She got sick.

 

_‘cigarettes’ … ‘ring’ … ‘green eyes’ … ‘belts’_

 

Even in the bathroom they were scattered all over the place. On the mirror, on the tiles, the wall, the towels, everywhere. _What on earth did he do this for?_ Angela asked herself. It made no sense, no sense at all.

 

_‘nicknames’ … ‘locks’ … ‘tan’ … ‘mock’_

 

As Angela made her way out of the bathroom, one of the agents who had found him stuck his head through the door again. “Mrs. Burr, we need to take him with us …”

Even though Angela knew that they had to, she still wanted to rip that man’s throat open the second he had opened his mouth. How dared he?

“Just …” she cleared her throat, “Give me just a second, will you? … I need to make sense of all of this.” She really needed to, if only for her own sanity. Otherwise she would be going crazy within a month tops.

 

_‘strong’ … ‘signature’ … ‘key’ … ‘sophisticated’_

 

 _Why did you write all of this Jonathan?_ Angela wondered if Jonathan wanted her to see this or if he would be furious to know that she waded through the sea of yellow post it notes that were strewn all across the hotel room. They literally were everywhere and each one with a single word or a phrase on them. _Why? What do they mean?_

 

_‘party’ … ‘sun’ … ‘salt’ … ‘hands’_

 

Angela sighed again. Only a week after they had somebody constantly check on Pine, now this. It was a disaster. Not that her superiors wouldn’t blame her for all of this – they surely would – but that wasn’t the point. The point was that she had failed. And she would never get rid of that feeling.

 

_‘wine’ … ‘sand’ … ‘beautiful’ … ‘forbidden’_

 

Had it really been worth all of this? Was getting Roper worth another man’s life? A good man’s life? Pine had known that there had been a risk, a risk that they could never fully control, but still he had agreed to each and every term she wanted him to. And now he laid there, on his bed, with the gun still in his hand.

 

_‘paella’ … ‘champagne’ … ‘clapping’ … ‘unconventional’_

 

 

Why had he been writing all that stupid little notes? Apparently, he had tried to put personality traits down. But of whom? Jed? All of them? And what for?

 

_‘unique’ … ‘breeze’ … ‘play of words’ … ‘smirk’_

 

As Angela stepped closer to the bed, she slowed down. Somehow it felt wrong to step into Pine’s personal space when things were like they were. Would he want her to? Or would he despise the thought of her even being in this room? _Who are you talking about Jonathan?_ _Who do you mean?_

 

_‘cottage’ … ‘attractive’ … ‘lust’… ‘scapegoat’_

 

That last one made Angela stop. _Scapegoat?_ If there was one scapegoat in this whole mess it was … It couldn’t be, now could it?

 

_‘dreams’ … ‘denial’ … ‘attitude’ … ‘desire’_

 

Suddenly, Angela wanted to scream. If they had chosen somebody else to blame everything on, would Jonathan still be alive?

 

_‘sea’ … ‘I hate you’ … ‘cocky’ … ‘fence’_

 

It could have been Langbourne. It would have been more difficult but it would have worked. It might have taken some more time, but still, she was sure that they would have been able to find something on the lawyer.

 

_‘I’m sorry’ … ‘I loved you’ … ‘I had to’ … ‘Dead’_

 

How could she have known? Angela furiously ran her hand through her hair. How? She hadn’t known anything about Pine’s private life except that he had been with Sophie Alekan. But that didn’t mean anything, did it? “Oh Jonathan … I’m so sorry”, she whispered as she stood directly at the foot of the bed, the sea of brownish-red spreading in front of her.

The post-it stack lay right next to Jonathan with one last message still attached to it:

 

_‘because of me’_

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and feedback always make my day! =)


End file.
